


The Heart (College AU)

by propertyofpoeandbucky



Series: Bucky Barnes Series/Multi-Part Fics [25]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:29:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29818077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/propertyofpoeandbucky/pseuds/propertyofpoeandbucky
Summary: You and Bucky are really close friends. You’re always hanging out with each other, that is, until Bucky starts to date Dot. You decide to distance yourself from him because…well…you may or may not be in love with him. But Bucky takes notice and he wants to figure out why the hell you’re avoiding him.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Reader, James "Bucky" Barnes & You, James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader, James "Bucky" Barnes/You
Series: Bucky Barnes Series/Multi-Part Fics [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2189115
Kudos: 28





	1. And the Heart Grows Fonder

Bucky walks up to your apartment with a bouquet of your favorite flowers in hand. He really doesn’t know why you’ve been avoiding him, but regardless, he’s going to apologize because he misses you and hates that he hardly sees you now.

He knocks on your door, mentally going over his apology. As soon as the door opens, the words get stuck in his mouth. Standing before him is Scott Lang in only his boxers.

“Bucky! Hey man! How’s it going?” Scott asks excitedly.

Bucky gulps, “G-Good, man. Um, is Y/N here?”

“Here ya go!” He hears your voice and you appear in the doorway, handing Scott a pile of clothes. When you peer outside, your eyes widen, “Bucky!” You’re in complete surprise.

Bucky then clears his throat and gives a shy smile, “H-Hey, Y/N.”

“Uh, what’s up?”

Sensing the awkward tension, Scott speaks, “I’m just gonna…get changed now,” and disappears back into your apartment.

Bucky let’s out a deep breath, “So, uh, Y/N, I don’t know what I did or said to make you start avoiding me, but whatever it is, I’m sorry.” He extends the bouquet to you and you look at him with startled gaze.

“I’m-I’m not avoiding you, Bucky,” a lie, “I’ve-I’m just so busy with school work lately. I haven’t had time to hang out with anyone really.”

“But Scott,” he nearly sneers and, honestly, he doesn’t know where this is coming from.

You can’t help but scoff, crossing your arms over your chest, “Maybe, but why does that matter? You have a girlfriend now, Bucky. You should be worrying about her, not me.”

“Y/N-”

“And I don’t think we should be hanging out anymore,” you blurt out, causing Bucky’s breath to hitch.

“W-What?”

You shrug, as if it’s so obvious, “Well, yeah. Like I said, you have a girlfriend. You shouldn’t be spending so much time with someone you’re not dating.”

“You don’t mean that, Y/N,” Bucky says with a shake of his head.

You stare back at him with such coldness he’s never seen in your beautiful eyes before, “I do. And don’t leave those flowers with me,” you nod to the bouquet, “I’m sure Dot will appreciate them a lot more than me.” Without another word, you turn around and shut the door in Bucky’s face.

You lean against the door, hands covering your mouth to muffle your sobs. Scott, now in a new change of clothes, rushes over to you and pulls you into a hug.

“Come on. I’m sure our best pal, Jake Peralta, will ease your mind.”

With a sniffle, you nod and follow him back to the couch. You’re so grateful to have a friend like Scott.

* * *

Bucky drags himself into his apartment, his whole body sagging, the flowers intended for you hanging limply by his fingers.

Steve and Sam look up from their video game and note how sad their friend looks, immediately putting their game on pause.

“Man, you don’t look good,” Sam says.

“What happened?” Steve helps guide Bucky to the couch and makes Bucky sit in-between him and Sam.

“I-I think I’m in love with Y/N,” Bucky breathes out.

His two friends give each other shocked looks and then put their attention back on him, “Okaaaay? So why do you look so hurt?” Sam asks.

“They told me we shouldn’t hang out anymore, that I shouldn’t be spending so much time with someone who isn’t my girlfriend.”

Steve nods, “Well…true.”

“When they told me that, I just-my heart sunk to my stomach. On the way back here, I kept trying to figure out why I’m so hung up on Y/N. Why am I missing them so much? Why do I wish that Dot was them? Then it hit me.”

“You’re in love with Y/N,” Steve says plainly, watching his friend nod in confirmation.

“But I fucked up. I-I think I’ve always loved them, but I was too late. Now they’re spending all their time with Scott and they’ll probably fall in love and date and get married and-” Bucky let’s out a sob, dropping the bouquet into his lap to throw his face into his hands, “I fucked up guys. I love Y/N and I lost them and now I don’t know what to do.”

Sam and Steve both give comforting runs on their friend’s back, looking at each other with questioning gazes. They honestly don’t know what to do either.


	2. The Heart Wants What It Wants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky spends a few days trying to decide what to do concerning you and him and him and Dot. This is what he decides to do.

“I fucking knew it!” Bucky winces as Dot yells at him, “I asked you if something was going on between you two and you said no! You fucking liar!” 

Bucky shook his head, abruptly shooting up to stand chest to chest with Dot, “I didn’t lie,” he sneers, “There wasn’t anything going on between Y/N and I. It wasn’t until very recently that I’ve realized my feelings for them.”

Dot scoffs, swiping a strand of her blonde hair over her shoulder and crossing her arms over her chest. She was livid. She knew after getting together with Bucky and watching him interact with you, there was something going on. Whether you two realized it or not, there was a bond, a connection between you and Bucky, one that Dot couldn’t even come close to, no matter how hard she tried. 

Despite the hard stares and the heavy breaths, Bucky spoke softly, “I didn’t mean for this to happen, Dot. You gotta believe me. I wouldn’t intentionally hurt you like this. You know I’m not that type of person. I’m sorry it took us getting into a relationship to realize that this isn’t what I want, that you’re not what I want.”

The truth. She could see it in his eyes. There’s emotion swirling behind them, it’s not some empty abyss, deep and dark and numb. There’s regret. There’s hurt. There’s meaning. 

Dot is an emotional person, often lashing out instead of thinking logically. But she stands there and thinks. She wants to remain upset, remain angry. She wants to remain hurt that Bucky, with his charming smile and luring words, has come to realize that she’s not perfect to him like he is to her. 

But the heart wants what it wants. 

“I forgive you.”

Three simple words with so much meaning, make Bucky take a step back in surprise, “You-You forgive me?”

She nods, arms that were once crossed over her chest lower to wrap around her stomach. She’s protecting herself, “I’m upset, yes. I-I thought we were doing so well and I thought this would last longer a lot more than it did, but I understand.” she shrugs, “You can’t help who you fall for, Bucky.”

Relief. Complete relief and unburdened was what Bucky felt from Dot’s words. He let out a grateful sigh and pulled his now ex-girlfriend into a hug, “Thank you,” he presses a kiss to her cheek and then pulls back, a soft smile on his face, “And I really did like you, Dot.”

She sighs, dejected and emotionally tired, “I know. Now go talk to Y/N.”

“I will.” He walks out of Dot’s apartment, a weight lifted off his shoulders. Now onto the next task: find you and talk to you.

* * *

Yeah, not an easy task Bucky now realizes. For hours, he’s been wandering campus looking for you. You won’t answer his calls or reply to his text messages. You don’t answer his facetime requests and he’s becoming more and more hopeless. He thought things were going to be okay, but he’s not so sure. 

Above him, the sky grumbles and the grey clouds roll in. He has no match against the angry skies above because as soon as he starts to pick up his pace, it begins to downpour. And out of all days, he decided to walk to campus instead of driving or taking his bike. Just great. 

Cold. Wet. Dejected. Bucky stuffs his cold hands into the jacket of his leather jacket and begins to head to your apartment. It was closer than his anyway and maybe, just maybe, you’ll be kind enough to let him in. 

As he walks down the sidewalk, mentally going over the list of places he’s checked and hasn’t checked for you, he hears his name. 

“Bucky!” Is-Is that your voice? “Bucky!” Okay, is he going crazy or is he hearing- “Bucky!” you roll up beside him in your car, window low enough for you to speak through to him, “Why’re you walking in the rain?!” your beautiful eyes are wide with worry. 

He can’t help but chuckle to himself, “Would you believe that I’ve actually been running all over campus looking for you?”

He sees you sigh and lean back into your seat. You unlock your car, “Get in.” You don’t need to ask him twice as he swiftly hops into your car.

“Sorry if I-”

“It’s fine. It’s just water,” you mutter, focusing on the road ahead instead of the dripping wet man in your passenger’s seat, “You can come to mine to dry off and wait out the rain.”

He breathes out a thank you and settles in his seat. _One step at a time, Bucky._

* * *

Another step close, Bucky thinks as he’s sitting in your apartment, with a warm, new set of clothes on and a cup of hot chocolate in his hand. When you sit on the couch, some distance away, that’s when he really speaks up.

“Thank you, for the ride and the clothes and the hot cocoa and, well, not leaving me out in the rain.”

You give him a shrug, “You’re welcome. No big deal.”

“It is,” he insisted, “Especially since…since you made it clear you don’t wanna be around me anymore.”

You sighed, looking down at your own mug of hot cocoa, “That’s not true,” you feel his gaze shift from grateful to confusion, “I always want to be around you, Bucky.”

You feel the couch cushion dip as he scoots closer to you, “Then why have you been avoiding me? Why ignore me if-”

“Because I can’t stand seeing someone else be yours when-when I want them to be me, when I should be yours.” your voice is so small, so vulnerable and you hate feeling so small and vulnerable. You wish the couch could just swallow you up forever. 

“If you’re saying what I think you’re saying, please, Y/N, let me hear it. I deserve it for all the pain you’ve caused me.”

You can’t help but snort at Bucky’s dramatics, but you say it anyway, “I love you, Bucky. I’m in love with you.” You don’t meet his eyes when you say those words. You can’t bare to see the pity and rejection. You can’t-

“I love you too.” Your eyes dart up to meet his and there’s no mischief behind them. They’re soft and gentle, like they always are when he looks at you, “I always have, but I guess I was too stupid and blind to realize it. And when I did, it was too late. I was with Dot and you’re with Scott-”

“I’m not dating Scott. He’s just been keeping me company since you’re dating Dot-”

“I’m not dating Dot anymore. We broke up.”

“Oh.”

Bucky’s hand gently moves towards yours, resting on top, “So…Scott was basically my proxy, eh? How’d he do?”

You laugh, a genuine laugh, one that he’s missed for weeks now, “A very shitty one. He’s a great person, it’s just-he’s not you.”

His heart warms at the sound of those words. Seems like you missed him as much as he missed you, “No one’s better than me, babe.”

You snort, “Tell me about it.” you both giggle and he squeezes your hand a bit, which makes you sigh, “So…what now?”

“I think you owe me some missed movie nights,” he says with a smirk and you have half a mind to push him off the couch.

“Bucky, come on, seriously. We just confessed that we’re in love with each other, things will change now.”

He shakes his head, “No, they won’t, not really. We’ll still hang out and talk everyday and we’ll have our movies nights, except they’ll be more of date nights now. And I’m warning you now, babe, I’m gonna start being real cheesy now that I know you love me.”

You playfully groaned, “Oh God, can I take back everything I said?”

Bucky shook his head with a smile, “Nope. Besides, whether you take ‘em back or not, you can’t stop the heart from wanting what it wants. And, babe, your heart soooo wants me.”

You shove Bucky off the couch then, your laughter that Bucky missed so much filling the room, “You’re a dork, Bucky Barnes.”

And he smiles right back up at you, “Your dork now, babe.”


End file.
